Right into the Hurricane

Last night Eden Golan stepped right into the heart of the Hurricane!

Following the atrocious attacks of the terrorist organization Hamas on October 7th and the challenging war that has ensued, it became obvious that Israel's representative for the 2024 Eurovision - Eden Golan (20) - had her work cut out for her. Unlike most contestants that get their 3 minutes of fame and then disintegrate into the oversaturated (and most un-listened to) Spotify playlists - Eden was tasked with a much more daunting challenge. These included:

• having worldwide pressure from protestors aggressively calling for Israel to be banned from the Eurovision
• having competitors disgrace themselves in their shaming of her and Israel
• becoming the face of all that is going on throughout the world related to Israel's war

Yet amidst the conflicting boos and cheers that flooded the semi-finals stage in Sweden, she absolutely crushed it. So much so that she propelled herself into 2nd place of the overall Eurovision rankings prior to the grand finale (thereby only intensifying all the previously noted expressions of anitsemetic behavior).

Cool, calm and composed, Eden filtered out the hatred and stayed to committed to her driving value of benevolence - to represent Israel during it's darkest hour. And as she stood tall in the eye of that hurricane she delivered the performance of a life time.

Looking at the numbers

Following the performances, the 37 international juries released their "unbiased" scores awarding Eden a mere total of 52 points (in compared to Switzerland who was first with 365 points) - in no way/shape/form reflecting the quality of a 2nd place contender.

However, the subsequent votes of the audience ranked Israel second with 323 points (1st - Croatia 337, 5th - Switzerland 226)! Even more so, Israel won the popular vote in 15 countries, including in Britain, France and Germany as well as in the “rest-of-the-world” category, more than any other contestant.

Switzerland went on to win the tournament, with Eden placing in a very respectable 5th place and immediately returning to Israel.

What comes after the Hurricane?

Yes, even in the Eurovision, one can observe countless points of analysis in respect to the mental toughness (MT) that Eden so elegantly displayed - composure, goal orientation, commitment to success over victory, driven by a value in the hardest of times and more.

However, the most captivating MT point from my perspective is reflected in the parallels of the title of her song - Hurricane. Hurricanes are relentless in their nature, obliterating everything in it's path with no consideration. Eden's song is reminiscent of this as it was written in respect to the tragic victims of the October 7th massacre, but even more so is a reflection of the journey she has undergone and will take on in the coming stages of her career.

MT (unlike resilience) is about having to look forward and know that s#it is going to hit the fan, and that you will still keep coming.

In Eden's case it began long before the competition: being called for her song to be changed, for her being banned, being wildly protested against, experiencing hate culture, then giving an immaculate performance... and now looking into the future knowing that countless more obstacles await her - that the hurricane is still in full effect.

But she will stand tall. She has proven that she knows how to navigate herself amidst these hurricanes. And her performance following the experienced challenges should be a reminder to us all what MT really looks like (even in the Eurovision).

The next time you find yourself standing in the eye of the hurricane, recall Eden's performance. Tap in to your MT by staying committed to your purpose and driving value. Confidently remind yourself, that you will overcome - no matter what the hurricane you are experiencing will bring.